A Special Distraction
by TheSorrow1145
Summary: I figured I'd take a bit of a break from my usual work today to write up a little something special for you.
1. The Day

Disclaimer: All characters and settings contained herein are the property of Bioware Corp, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts Inc.

As Shepard stood on the quarian home world, he had to marvel at how well-kept the place looked. It may have been deserted for 300 years by the quarians, but the geth had done an excellent job preserving the place. By the time the geth had moved out and the quarians had moved in, it was hard to tell that the place had ever been the site of a war. The geth still maintained a liaison on the planet, Legion, of course, but for the most part they had retreated to the edge of the galaxy and left organic life well enough alone. And thanks to Mordin and his gene therapy program, the quarians were adapting more swiftly to their home world than they ever could have hoped.

The afternoon sun suddenly began to shine from behind a cloud, raising the temperature noticeably and making Shepard sweat a little, despite the cool breeze. Shepard tugged at his dress uniform a bit, trying to alleviate his discomfort. He had always hated wearing the thing, but for today he would make an exception. As he fidgeted with his uniform a bit more, he reflected on the other things that had happened in the last few years.

The Reapers had finally arrived in force less than 5 years ago. It had been a long war, 3 years of some of the most brutal space combat ever witnessed, possible in all time. Even with the various Reaper technology that they had managed to capture and re-purpose, the Citadel fleets, bolstered by almost every mercenary and pirate group in the Terminus Systems, had taken massive losses. Shepard still didn't like to think of the casualty reports, which had gone on for pages and pages. Many were still missing and considered KIA, their bodies never found.

But in the end, the galaxy had been saved, thanks to the efforts of all involved. The Council had, of course, chosen to single out Shepard as the one most deserving as of congratulations, citing his tireless efforts to warn the galaxy about the Reaper threat, despite all those trying to tear down his claims (though they rather tactfully avoided mentioning their own part in those criticisms),as well as his effort to destroy all the Reapers attempts at preemptive attacks, and uniting the galaxy against them.

Shepard hadn't accepted the medal, saying that the thousands who had died to fight off the Reapers had been far more worthy of the recognition. He had also resigned his post as a Spectre, and retired from military life altogether.

That mission was behind him.

Another mission was about to begin.

It was at this point that the music started.

Quarians and humans shared quite a bit as far as ceremonies went. They had similar customs on the birth of a child, a passage into adulthood, and of course, the reason he was here.

They had almost identical ceremonies for marriage.

As she walked up the hill towards him, Shepard decided then and there that he could not possible see another sight more beautiful than this for the rest of his life. Tali looked absolutely radiant, her eyes dazzling in the afternoon sun, her mouth set in a perfect smile.

Equally radiant as Tali was what she was wearing. Quarians certainly knew pretty, because her gown was an absolute work of art. It was, of course, a shade of light violet, as Tali's environmental suit had been, complete with an almost identical pattern of mesmerizing swirls covering the entire dress. The only thing she had insisted the dress not have was a veil. Shepard had understood that. She'd kept her face hidden almost her entire life. She was done hiding.

When she finally made it to the top of the hill to stand beside him, former Admiral Raan, now Magistrate Raan, began the vows.

"Friends and family, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman for life. If there is anyone who feels that these two should not be together, please speak now."

Shepard heard a small cough from directly behind him, and drove an almost unnoticed elbow into Garrus' ribs. He heard a slight "oof" from Garrus, who subsided almost immediately. No one else spoke up.

Shala looked to Shepard. "Shepard vas Normandy, do you take this woman to be your wife?"

Shepard nodded. "I do."

Shala turned to face Tali. "Tali'Zorah vas Normady, do you take this man to be your husband?"

Tali nodded as well. "I do."

Shala stepped back, then addressed both of them. "Who has the rings?"

Shepard felt a tap on his shoulder, then held his hand to one side. A small ring fell into his palm almost immediately.

As he placed the ring on Tali's finger, he looked her right in the eyes as he made his final vows.

"Tali, you are everything to me. You kept me on the straight and narrow, you kept me from making the wrong choices. When I was down, you brought me up. When I was at the edge, you brought me back. When I wasn't there, you kept the faith. I love you with every fiber of my being, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Tali beamed even more, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Then she held out her free hand to her side. Liara, who had been standing behind her, placed the ring in her hand.

As Tali placed the ring on Shepard's finger, she met his eyes and made her own vows.

"Shepard, you were there for me when no one else was. You helped me remember that there was good in the universe when I couldn't see it for myself. You gave us our home back. You've saved me more times than I can count. I love you with all of my heart, and I would be proud to spend the rest of my life with you."

And as they stood there, holding each other's hands, Shepard distantly heard Shala say, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. May you always be happy and safe. Keelah se'lai."

At that, Tali leaned forward, Shepard moving to match her. Their lips met, and Shepard could dimly hear people cheering and clapping in the background, but he filed that away as unimportant. The important thing was the woman he was holding, and nothing else. Eventually the moment ended, and as they broke contact and met each other's eye's Shepard could see that Tali was positively bursting with happiness, which he was sure she could see in him as well.

With that, they both turned and walked down the hill to the waiting shuttle.

As the door closed, and the shuttle took to the air, Tali, her eyes still shining, looked over at Shepard.

"That was interesting. I don't think I've been that nervous since the Collector mission." She paused, then looked around the shuttle's interior, then asked, "So where are we going now?"

In response, Shepard glanced around the shuttles interior. Per his request, all the windows had been blacked out. He looked at Tali and said "Can't tell you, Tali. It's a surprise."

Tali made a bit of a pout face at him, but her heart wasn't in it, and she accepted Shepard's words.

After a few more minutes of flight, Shepard felt the shuttle begin to decelerate and descend.

As the shuttle settled down, Shepard stood up and offered Tali his hand. She took it, and Shepard let her to the shuttle door. Shepard reached for the panel to open it, then looked over at Tali and said "Eyes, close 'em."

She rolled her eyes at him, then obligingly shut them.

"And no peeking." said Shepard. Tali nodded.

Shepard finally opened the shuttle door, and lead Tali of the shuttle. They walked together for a few minutes before Shepard gently turned Tali around and said "Okay, you can open them now."

Tali opened her eyes, blinking a bit in the sudden sunlight, then gasped.

The house wasn't a large one, but it looked very nice. Legion had, as a favor to Shepard for assisting the geth with the heretic problem, placed a priority on the homes restoration.

Shepard placed an arm around her shoulder, and said "Your father wasn't here to give you this, so I took care of it for him."

That drew a sad smile out of Tali, a single pearly tear running down her cheek. "I think he would have approved of your choice, Shepard."

"It gets better," said Shepard. He slowly turned her around again. "I didn't just pick this house for the size." He finished turning her around.

"I also picked it for the view."

The view was spectacular. The house stood on a hill overlooking a massive valley. Through the valley ran a river, with a massive waterfall visible in the distance. At this point in the day, the sun was just setting behind the mountain the waterfall cascaded from.

Tali was speechless for a moment, just taking in the view. Then she looked Shepard in the eyes again, her eyes dazzling in the late afternoon light. Shepard didn't know what to say, worried he might spoil the moment, so he did the only thing he could think to do.

He kissed her. And she returned that kiss with such passion, such love, that Shepard realized something.

No matter what else life held, no matter what else was going on in the universe, none of it was important.

This woman, this moment, this place, their life together, was all that was important.

It was all....perfect.


	2. Hello Again

Apologies to all for the lateness and probable insubstantiality of this entry. Inspiration for me sort of dried up after the ending of Mass Effect 3. At first the utter lack of difference between the ending options and the depressing note they all ended on gave a rather intense sense of the pointlessness of the experience. Having had time to think on it, however, I have decided to choose the Blue ending (for those unfamiliar with the details of the endings) as my canon for my upcoming project _Aftermath_. Stay tuned in the coming days for the first chapter, hope you like it.

It's good to be back.


End file.
